Ridgecrest TLA 2011

8/4/2019 Ridgecrest TLA 2011

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RIDGECRESTLooking Ahead 2011-2012

The Oz Principle: What else can we do to get the results we want?


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Professional Learning Communities

Ridgecrest 2011-2012

Ridgecrest Elementary School2011-2012

Professional LearningCommunities


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Setting our Purpose

This year is about clarity and focus. It has long been known in education

that If we choose to take just a few well-known, straightforward actions,

in every subject area, we can make swift, dramatic improvements inschools (Schmoker, 2011). Likewise, we have also known that clarity is

the antidote to anxiety (Buckingham, 2005). This year I would like to

bring focus and clarity to our PLCs.

The professional learning community model at Ridgecrest is now

reaching a critical juncture, one well known to those who have witnessed

the fate of other well-intentioned school reform efforts. In this all-too-

familiar cycle, initial enthusiasm gives way to confusion about the

fundamental concepts driving the initiative, followed by inevitable

implementation problems, the conclusion that the reform has failed to

bring about the desired results, abandonment of the reform, and the

launch of a new search for the next promising initiative. I wish to avoid

confusion about the role of PLCs, and how they positively influence

student learning at Ridgecrest.

The professional learning community model flows from the assumption

that the core mission of formal education is not simply to ensure thatstudents are taught, but to ensure that they learn. We have to become a

SMART school.

In SMART schools, continuos improvement is not an event--it is a way of

thinking and being. Everyone in our school engages in the ongoing

process of learning. Likewise, we work hard to hold ourselves

responsible for achieving the results we want--we implement the Oz

Principle. We see it, own it, solve it, and do it.

The purpose of this handout is to ensure that we keep the momentum

and effectiveness of our PLCs at Ridgecrest.

Ridgecrest Elementary School

Ridgecrest PLCs! 2


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Our Purpose Through Data

The very essence of a professional learning community is a focus on and

a commitment to the learning of each student. SMART goals: Goals

that are Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented,and Time-bound are SMART Goals.

In order to become a team--a group of people working interdependently

to achieve a common goal for which members are held mutually

accountable--you must establish specific and measurable performance

goals.

Data Driven Dialogue Predictions

Phase I Prediction dialogue takes place before you see the data. During

this time, you activate prior knowledge, surface assumptions, and make

predictions, thus creating readiness to examine and discuss the data.

You hear and honor all assumptions and ideas as building blocks for

new learning.

Private Think Time

Before beginning your phase I of Predictions dialogue, please reflect

privately and record several of your preliminary thoughts about the data.One or more of the following thought-starters may be helpful.

! I assume...

! I predict...

! I wonder...

! My questions/expectations are influenced by...

! Some possibilities for learning that this data may present...

Company

Ridgecrest PLCs! 3


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Data Driven Dialogue Observations

During Phase II Observations dialogue, you engage with the actual data

and note only the facts that you can observe in the data. Conjectures,

explanations, conclusions, and inferences are off-limits. You make

statements about quantities (e.g., Over half the students...), the presence

of certain specific information and/or numerical relationships between

ideas (e.g., Over 90% of the students achieved below standard in

Problem Solving; Compared to last years data, the percentage of

students performing at the advanced and on-standard level in Skills

increased by 8%...)

Private Think Time

Before beginning in Phase II Observation dialogue, please study the data

privately and record several of your observations.

Remember, just the facts. If you catch yourself using...then stop.

Because! Therefore! It seems! However

! I observe that...

! Some patterns/trends that I notice...

! I can count...

! Im surprised that I see...

Data Driven Dialogue Observations

Before beginning Phase III Inferences dialogue with your colleagues,

please reflect privately, using one or more of the following thought

starters to prompt your thinking:

! I believe the data suggest...because...

Company

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! Additional data that would help me verify/confirm my explanation

is...

! I think the following are appropriate solutions/responses that

address the needs implied in the data...

! Additional data that would help guide implementation of the

solution/responses and determine if they are working...

SMART Teams

The key to continuous school improvement is linking learning and

improvement. Continuous improvement is a state of mind, the belief that

no matter what we do well, there is a way to do it better next time. The

only way to continuously improve is to continuously come up with new

and better ideas that can be shown to produce better results. In

Ridgecrest terms, it is perusing the Oz Principle question of, What can I

do to make things better.

A SMART Goal Defined

Believing that learning and improvement should be explicitly linked is one

thing; finding tools and methods that let you act on that belief is entirely

different. SMART goals are very effective tools for making this

translation. These goals are,! Strategic and Specific

! Measureable

! Attainable

! Results-based

! Time-bound

A SMART Goal Defined

Within the next two years, the number of students in the proficient or

advanced levels in math will increase by 50%.

! Specific and Strategic. It deals with students in the second grade

and with reading and math skills.

! Measurable. The grade level knows how many students have

scored at the desired levels in the past, and therefore can easily

compute whether that figure increases by 50%.

Company

Ridgecrest PLCs! 4


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! Attainable. It is neither so conservative as to be uninspiring nor so

high that people will think it is impossible to achieve.

! Results-based. It describes the outcome (higher reading and

math scores), not a process or activity that might contribute to

that goal, such as implementing a reading program.

! Time-bound. It gives a time frame to achieve the goal: within the

next two years.

Why Goals for PLCs.

The fact that teachers collaborate will do nothing to improve a school.

The pertinent question is not, Are we collaborating? but rather, What

are we collaborating about? The purpose of collaborationto help

more students achieve at higher levelscan only be accomplished if the

professionals engaged in collaboration are focused on the right things.

What distinguishes a group from a team? Much of what passes for

collaboration is more aptly described as Coblaboration (Perkins,

2003). A collection of teachers does not truly become a team until they

must rely on one another and need one another to accomplish a goal

that none could achieve individually.

Collaboration is a systematic process, in which people work together,

interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to

improve individual and collective results.

Holding Each Other Accountable The Oz Principal Way

Company

Ridgecrest PLCs! 4

1

Define the

Results

3

Deliver praise or

coaching

2

Determine time

to report on

progress

What Rings the Bell? What progress has

been made?

Well Done! or

What else can we

do?


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SMART Goals Worksheet

School:______________________!! Team Name: ___________________________Team Facilitator: _________________________

Team Members: _____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

School Goals:

Team Goals:

Strategies and

Action Steps

Responsibility Timeline Evidence of

Effectiveness

Company

Ridgecrest PLCs! 7


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Hedgehog Concept in RC PLCsThe essence of the Hedgehog Concept, identified in Jim Collins Good

to Great (2001) is to help an organization obtain piercing clarity about

how to produce the best-long term results, and then exercising the

relentless discipline to say, No, thank you to opportunities that fail

the hedgehog test.

Our task this year is to hone our craft, to become the best at

educating our students, and to maximize our resources. Our

framework for building our future is PLCs. Our tools for creating our

exterior and interior designs are the following:

! RTI ! Teaching Like a

Champion

! The University of

Washingtons CEL 5Ds

! Understanding by

Design

! CASL and Action

Research

! Peer Based Labs

Our goal this year in our PLCs is to work on our work with the

discipline necessary to achieve our goals. To use our tools as we

pursue our own Oz Principle, and by asking ourselves, What can we

do to get the results we want? I look forward to a great year of PLCs.

Company

Ridgecrest PLCs! 8

Where our true

mission,

programs, andfocus should be

as a PLC


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CASLResearchMore than 150 elementary and

secondary teachers in 15 high needs

schools from three different districts

indicated that CASL is a powerful

professional development system that

positively affects teachers thinking

and practice, along with student

learning. Teachers met every two to

three weeks and focused on studentwork.

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS

The most important benefit of

collaboratively analyzing student

learning is that at-risk students learn

more. 90 percent of students

followed in a two year span showed

improved learning in the work

samples.

BENEFITS TO TEACHERSA two year study indicated that 95%

of teachers found the CASL the best

form of professional development

they have received. It also increased

teachers satisfaction with collegial

relationships.

CASL is the Collaborative Analysis

of Student Learning. It is a process

of working together with colleagues

from different grade levels, or from

different content areas, to focus on

student learning through student

work. Teachers meet in groups,

develop their own being a

scientist (action research)

hypothesis, and chose several

students to follow throughout the

year. The meetings are designed to

test new approaches to teaching,

and to measure student learning

from the analysis of student work.

What is CASL

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS

Include improved student learning,

and increased student clarity about

intended outcomes.

BENEFITS TO TEACHERS

includes commitment and confidence

in ability to promote student learning.

CASLRIDGECREST LEARNING IS THE EXPECTATION

HOME OF THE RAMS

Analytical and reflective inquiry skills

(e.g., examining multiple factors andperspectives when analyzing a

situation. Professional knowledge of

content understanding, student

development and learning, pedagogy,

assessment design and interpretation,

and contextual factors. Alignment

among classroom standards,

instruction, and assessments.

Collaborative expertise, and

awareness and self assessment.


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The process foranswering thequestion What Ican I do to makethings better?

The process of conducting the CASL

is very familiar to all of us. It is a

mixture of PLCs and CFGs. Here is a

quick break down of the process:

1. Brainstorm and select an area

you would like to focus on this

year to improve student learning.

It can come from the CEL 5Ds and

Teach Like A Champion.

2. Create a purpose for you to focuson during this time.

3. Thinking about students who

challenge you, or perhaps outliers,

come up with a hypothesis.

4. Determine the materials you will

use. This includes teaching

materials and student learning

materials. For example, are

students keeping portfolios of

writing? What major assessmentsor performance task will students

be required to do that illustrate

their learning?

5. What is your unit plan and goal? In

other words, what are the

procedures for student learning?

6. What work samples from students

will you bring to the CASL

meetings? What is the data you

will be using?

7. What is the data telling you and

your group? What can you change

in your instructional practice?

What can you change in the work

you assign? What will change in

your procedures.

8. Conclusion. What have you

learned?

CASL IT IS A CFG AND A PLC

RIDGECREST WAY

!Be Respectful

!Be Responsible

!Be Kind

!Be Safe

Participating the CASL will allow

Ridgecrest staff the opportunity to

practice doing things the Ridgecrest

Way.

The CASL process is a lot like a CFG. We will be meeting with different people

from different grade levels. This will allow us to have a variety of experiences

and expertise when looking at our student work. Likewise, this will help build

our school community. The goal will also be to meet with people who we dont

work with on a daily basis.

CASL is also like a PLC. During our work, we will be searching for answers to

the questions, What do we expect our students to know? How will we know

when they have learned it? What do we do when they do not learn it? and

What do we do when they already know it?

In addition, this can be fun. How often do teachers get to drive their own

professional development, and satisfy their own professional inquiries?


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The CASL Protocol

Overview:

This protocol focuses on an examination of all student work produced during a narrow time period by a

sample of students in a particular school or district.

Other Uses:

The Vertical Slice Protocol can be used for a variety of purposes, depending entirely on what the group

engaged in the slice wants to know. It can be used to help educators understand students perceptions of

the school, some aspect of a problem or issue, how rigorous classroom work is, how interdisciplinary

curriculum functions, and so forth.

Number of Participants:

1-100+

Time required:1 to 4 hours. May best be accomplished by having multiple meetings.

Steps:

Part 1planning meeting:

The planning meeting involves either the entire group that will be participating in analysis or a

representative group. The steps for the planning meeting are as follows:

Step 1: Determining the purpose of the Slice (up to 15 minutes)

Step 2: Determining a Guiding Question Related to the Purpose of the Slice (up to 15 minutes)

Step 3: Determining How Student Work is to Be Obtained (up to 15 minutes). Each group will need to think

of its own needs and design its own type of student work to collect. Here are some examples:

! One students work throughout one day

! A sample of work from randomly chosen students in one grade on one day

! A sample of work from randomly chosen students across grades on one day

! As sample of work from one randomly selected student in the same grade in each of several schools

! Samples reflecting work from students at certain socioeconomic levels or levels of English fluency

! Samples of work from students enrolled in special education courses, AP courses, art classes, and

so forth

! Samples of work from students who are intensive, above benchmark, or present a academic

particular challenge.


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Step 4: Identify Other Aspects of the Word to Be Collected (up to 15 minutes). These aspects include the

following:

! What the sample will consist of (e.g., work on paper, videos, artwork, photos, journals, audiotapes,

student logs/reflections)

! Whether the context of the work will be examined in addition to the work itself (e.g., the

assignment, the instruction leading up to the assignment, whether or not students worked together

or individually)

! Whether the work will be anonymous or identified

Step 5: Deciding on the Duration of the Slice (up to 15 minutes). Although slices usually consists of a days

worth of work, consider collecting during a particular hour or certain period of the day; alternatively,

consider examining work that has been collected over a longer period of time (a week, for example) and

then randomly selected for the analysis. Be careful not to collect too much work.

Step 6: Attending to the Logistics of the Collection Process (up to 15 minutes)

! Answer these critical questions: Who will collect the work? If random selections are to be made, who

will make them? How will parents be informed of the process? Do they need to give permission for

the school to analyze their students work, even if the student remains anonymous?

! Organize the collection. If selecting at random from the collection, do so at this point.

! Make copies of the work so that everyone has the same final collection.

! Establish a time and place for the analysis and distribute this information to those involved.

! Gather refreshments and tools for analysis (paper, and pencil, laptops, etc).

! Decide on facilitator.

Step 7: Determining How the Analysis will be Conducted (up to 15 minutes). Will participants scan all of the

material and then focus on representative pieces? Will the dialogue be Socratic? Will groups be large or

small?

Step 8: Determining Questions to Ask During the Protocol (up to 15 minutes). Here are some examples from

the National School Reform Faculty:

! What evidence is there that students develop and apply essential knowledge and silks in challenging

and meaningful ways?

! What evidence is there thatgaps exist within the curriculum?

! What evidence is thereof redundancy or unnecessary overlap within the curriculum school wide?

! What evidence is there that the student work builds on individual learning styles and skill levels of

students and fosters student self-expression?

! What evidence is there that lessons encourage students to develop and apply problem-solving

abilities?

! What essential skills and proficiencies in language arts, social studies, and mathematics are being

applied or developed through the student work?

! What evidence is there that individual learning styles and skill levels are being incorporated into

the lessons?

! What evidence is thereof thematic connections being made across the curriculum?


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! What essential skills and proficiencies in language arts and mathematics are being applied or

developed throughout the student work?

Part 2Analysis (suggested time 45 minutes to 1 hour)

Step 1: Preparation (up to 15 minutes). The facilitator establishes norms, facilitates introductions, and

explains the process, and the presenter revisits his or her hypothesis, focus, and the context of the work.

! If the group is large, the facilitator breaks the whole group into smaller groups for the purpose of

analysis.

! The facilitator briefly describes the parameters and methodology of the protocol.

! The facilitator presents the guiding questions for discussion.

Step 2: Examining the Work (up to 50 minutes) Participants examine the work and take notes in silence.

Small groups may examine different blocks or evidence in order to cover all the work presented.

Step 3: Discussion (Up to 90 minutes)

! If the group is large, the facilitator leads one group in the discussion, using previously introduced

norms, while the other groups silently take notes.

! Participants in each group share their thoughts about guiding questions and about any other

questions that might have arisen during their examination; they also attempt to identify themes

or trends.

! The process is repeated until each group has had a chance to lead the discussion. With each

round, the discussion should become deeper as participants build on what they have heard.

Step 4: Framing Answers (up to 55 minutes). The whole group works together to frame some answers to

the guiding questions and to questions designed during the planning process.

Step 5: Debriefing (up to 15 minutes). The facilitator leads the whole group in debriefing. What have

participants learned through this process, and why? What could be improved? The group identifies

potential next steps for deepening the student work related to the guiding questions.

Critical Elements:

Guiding questions that are clear and focused. The questions under Step 8 of the first part of the process

are clear and focused. A clear being a scientist purpose from the teacher. Building Leadership Team

member facilitating each CASL group.


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Ridgecrest TLA 2011

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Transcript of Ridgecrest TLA 2011